The final document from Nordisk Forum- English version

From 12 to 15 June 2014,
almost 20 000 feminists met in Malmø, Sweden during the Nordic
Forum, to shape new strategies towards the realisation of equality between
women and men, in the framework of the discussions on the 20 years of the
Beijing Platform for Action.

20 years after the first Nordic Forum "Women’s Life and
Work - Joy and Freedom" in 1994 in Finland, and 10 years after the Nordic
seminar "Equal opportunities - for WoMen", the event was
initiated by the nordic womens organisations and saw the participation of dozens of
Nordic organisations from all fields, dedicated to gender equality and women’s
empowerment, as well as representatives from numerous different sectors
including activist networks, government, academia and private enterprise.

During 4 days, women and men committed to or interested in women’s rights
had the opportunity to discuss with new partners, discover new perspectives,
debate issues, attend artistic performances, participate to the parade, call on
their national representatives and propose ideas and actions. All issues were
explored and addressed, following the 12 critical areas of the Beijing Platform
for Action, as well as new emerging issues such as migration, men, everyday
sexism, prostitution, arts or media.

The Nordic Forum ended up with an outcome
document, delivered to the Nordic Ministers for gender equality during the
closing ceremony.

“The Nordic women’s movement is putting forward 63 points
that we want our countries to fulfill. It’s time for action… now ! But the
work on gender equality does not end there. Nordiskt Forum has been a fantastic meeting, with nearly 20 000 visitors.
We’re convinced that all these people will be taking home new ideas and
strategies for the future. This is a united force that will influence our
public agencies, civil society, trade unions, municipalities and businesses", says Gertrud Åström, Chair of Sweden’s Women’s Lobby.

The 63 demands from the Nordisk Forum Final Document :

1. Feminist
economy - economic and social development

We demand
that:

• The
Nordic countries’ national budgets, and municipal and regional budgets
integrate a gender equality perspective, so that gender equality is shown in
financial documents and decisions, and that the equality policy goals are
systematically followed up and used as a basis for new measures, and are
included in the Post-2015 agenda.

• Nordic
authorities promote women’s economic independence and rights, including access
to paid work and satisfactory working conditions, and observe the particular
needs of vulnerable groups.

• Nordic
governments implement tangible measures and follow up the work to reduce income
differences between women and men.

• Unpaid
care work is shown and reflected in economic models and is observed in social
planning.

• Global
financial crises are analysed from a gender perspective in terms of both causes
and consequences, and that welfare services are maintained to protect women’s
economic independence.

• Funding
is allocated to gender-specific research and knowledge of how illness affects
women, including menstruation and menstruation-related disorders, follow-up of
women with cancer diagnoses (particularly breast and uterine cancer) and well-supported
measures including preventive health care and treatment of women’s disorders.

• The
Nordic governments and responsible authorities ensure equality between the
genders in diagnoses, investigation, treatment and follow-up of disorders in
view of the particular needs of different groups. Adapted health care for women
with disabilities is needed.

• Health
care and the legal system take women’s experiences of undesired sexual acts,
assault and violence seriously and with respect for the individual’s integrity
and legal rights.

• The
Nordic governments and responsible authorities guarantee obligatory sex
education of good quality, modern and accessible contraceptives, legal and safe
abortions and births, with respect for the woman’s wishes and needs.

• Nordic
authorities fulfill their important commitment to women’s sexual and
reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including questions of LGBT and
surrogate motherhood, in the health-related Millennium goals and in the work on
Post-2015.

3. Women in
the workplace, equal pay, education and career

We demand
that:

• Women’s
right to equal pay is strengthened, and the opportunities for women to be
financially independent and self-supporting are improved considerably through
tanglible structural measures. The Nordic governments, employer organisations
and trade organisations work to promote working life that considers family life
and actual working environment and creates reasonable working conditions. The
right to full-time employment is increased by legislation or agreements in the
countries where women’s involuntary part-time employment is widespread. The
option of voluntary part-time employment is given. Uncertain employment
positions in the form of hourly-based work and fixed-term employment positions are regulated so that abuse is stopped.

• The
Nordic governments prioritise structural measures so that financial
independence after retirement is secured.

• The
Nordic governments implement a parent insurance system that leads to equal
responsibility of women and men for care of children, and to ensure that
state-run child and elderly care of high quality is guaranteed.

•
Responsible authorities ensure that educational materials are quality assured
from a gender-equality perspective, and that active work is carried out to
break gender-stereotypical educational choices and thereby to break down a
gender-segregated labour market.

• The
Nordic governments prioritise women’s opportunities for careers in research.
Various funding initiatives for centres of excellence must not divert funds
from women-dominated educational and research areas. Women’s educational
choices, regardless of specialisation, should be guaranteed equivalent
resources.

4. Violence
against women and girls

We demand
that:

• The
Nordic governments ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and
Combating Violence and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence
(the Istanbul Convention). The police and legal system is trained in matters of
violence against women, and resources are allocated to crime fighting and
prosecution.

• In every
Nordic country, an independent national rapporteur is appointed for trafficking
in human beings who works closely with civil society, and particularly with
women’s organisations.

• The Nordic
governments strengthen organisations that work for, and with, women’s rights to
freedom from violence, and allocate sufficient and predictable resources,
particularly to women’s support units/sheltered accommodation. Long-term action
plans based on a holistic view, with clear goals and adequate resources, are
needed to prevent and reduce men’s violence against women and to protect
vulnerable women.

• Nordic
authorities have greater focus on the basic causes of violence and assault. We
propose national campaigns with a preventive focus, where society shows zero
tolerance of violence and subordination of women, and work to counteract blame
and shame. This is to include fundamental causes of violence and assault, and
causes of women entering prostitution. Information about rights and support
measures are to be guaranteed to women subjected to violence. Rape is to be
defined as lack of consent.

• The
Nordic governments prepare legislation on prevention of violence against women
and girls, which involves criminalisation of sex purchasing where there is
currently no such legislation, strong exit strategies are developed to enable
women to leave prostitution, and capacity is strengthened in police and the
judicial system to prosecute sex purchasers, procurers and organised crime.

• The
Nordic governments draw attention to the special needs of particularly
vulnerable women subjected to violence and assault. Women with serious
psychiatric and/or drug problems who are subjected to violence lack equal
access to women’s support units, and women’s support units are not sufficiently
adapted for women with disabilities.

5.
Environment, climate and sustainable development

We demand
that:

• Nordic
authorities help women to assume roles as players, innovators, organisers,
teachers, leaders and ambassadors for sustainable development. Climate- and
environment-directed aid must always, where relevant, include a gender
perspective.

• Women are
secured greater political participation and co-determination in the environment
and climate work, and that negotiations on climate and environment agreements
involve 50 percent women.

• Nordic
authorities guarantee the rights of the Sami, particularly Sami women, to be
heard on environmental matters concerning their areas.

• Nordic authorities
implement stronger measures, including legislation, to quickly reduce harmful,
often unnecessary and costly emissions, and the energy used must increasingly
be renewable and sustainable.

• Nordic
governments and authorities, together with the business community, take
responsibility for showing the consequences to society of environmental toxins,
chemicals and other emissions and discharges, and that consequences for women
are considered in legislation, in development of a green economy and green
workplaces.

• Women’s
sexual and reproductive rights are guaranteed in environment- and
climate-related crises, and violence against and trading of women and children
in natural disasters is demonstrated and measures taken.

6. Care work and welfare society

We demand
that:

• The
Nordic welfare model is particularly protected in the event of financial
crisis. What the objective is, what we can be proud of, and what can be
improved are crucial issues.

• The
Nordic governments prioritise good working conditions and the health of people
working in the welfare sector. Personnel with low levels of education and
unqualified personnel are given the opportunity of in-service training.

• The
Nordic governments emphasise the importance of increasing men’s participation
in health services and care, both in the unpaid work in the home and in paid
work in the health and welfare sector.

• Nordic
governments and authorities prioritise education and research on the democratic
trend of an increasing proportion of elderly people in the population, and that
they prioritise innovations, with both technical and organisational focus, and
set requirements for a gender equality perspective thoughout.

•
Authorities and other institutions are given the task of creating programmes
for how technical advances can be used to improve public health. Particular
consideration is taken to needs in particularly vulnerable groups and, on the
basis of considering the individual’s dignity, help them to live an independent
life as long as possible.

7. Peace and
security

We demand
that:

• The
Nordic governments ensure women’s equal representation at decision-making level
in all peace processes, to prevent war, mediate in conflicts, monitor peace
processes, and participate in peace negotiations. The Nordic governments make
demands in the UN for a special representative, responsible for women’s rights
as players and decision-makers in peace and security issues.

• The
Nordic governments revise, make tangible, and consolidate their action plans
for Resolution 1325, earmark financial resources to emphasise the importance of
participation of civil society, particularly women’s organisations, and the
Nordic co-operation, to attain the goals.

• The
Nordic governments allocate funds to protect and train women refugees, and
increase their efforts to strengthen institutions and structures so that
perpetrators of sexual violence in war are prosecuted and punished and that
victims are given active support.

• The
Nordic governments include indigenous people and the environment in peace and
security issues.

• The
Nordic governments promote peace initiatives, reduce military expenses, stop
selling arms that largely affect children and women, and appoint disarmament
ambassadors, and strengthen their active work to abolish nuclear weapons.

8. Political
participation and development

We demand
that:

• The
Nordic governments set up clear goals for women’s real opportunity to exercise
their citizenship, showing the needs and measures relating to vulnerable
groups. Authorities prioritise work against Internet-hate and harassment of
female politicians and other women in the public sphere.

• Political
asssemblies and government, regional and municipal committees, commissions,
working groups and delegations ensure, for example through a quota system,
equal representation for women and men.

• Public
authorities, muncipalities, media and businesses commission women as experts
without being steered by gender-stereotypical perceptions, and that women in
minority groups are heard as experts.

• There are
women at local level in the horizontal decision-making in all sectors,
including the financial and business sectors.

• Labour
market organisations are responsible for ensuring that there are more women in
executive positions, in trade unions, and employer organisations and their
member organisations.

• All
employment procedures, election committees and other selection situations use
clear criteria that do not discriminate against women, and that political
mentorship programmes are initiated to increase women’s participation in
politics and to reduce the number of drop-outs.

9. Gender
mainstreaming and gender equality in organisations

We demand
that:

• The
Nordic governments clarify division of responsibility for gender mainstreaming,
and anchor and specify gender mainstreaming, including the right of appeal in
national laws, ordinances and processs in all policy areas, and decide on and
finance specific measures for effective implementation of gender mainstreaming.

•
Authorities and other public enterprises are given the task of including a
gender perspective in all their activities, and that gender mainstreaming is
included in a correct way, which involves training of all personnel concerned,
a gender equality perspective in budget and other policy processes, gender and
equality analyses, and mechanisms and procedures for follow-up.

• The Nordic
governments draw up action plans contain guidelines, criteria, indicators,
performance indicators, and information and statistics by gender. Regular
follow-ups are carried out, and they are reported and published.

• The
Nordic governments use equality mainstreaming in all international involvement,
including the Post-2015 agenda and sustainable development goals, SDG.

• The Nordic
countries recognise women’s grounds for asylum, and become role models in
protecting women through clear gender-sensitive information about women’s
grounds for asylum. All women who are in need of protection will be treated
equally. Information will be given about women’s rights, and about where women
can seek help in the event of vulnerability.

• Women
with family links are to be granted their own residence permits that are not
linked to the man. Deportation of women subjected to violence is stopped. Women
who are subjected to trafficking in human beings are given protection and help,
regardless of whether they can or will witness in criminal proceedings.

• Nordic
governments and authorities apply a human refugee policy, with particular
consideration to women in accordance with the UN Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees.

•
Governments and authorities improve integration and training of women born in
other countries with poor education levels, and illiteracy is prioritised in
the education system.

• Migrant
workers and labour force immigrants are guaranteed the same pay and working
conditions as native labour.

• State-run
media is given the task of creating gender equality by implementing a model for
participation and non-stereotypical representation that can also be used by
privately-owned media.

• School
authorities and educational programmes with focus on media, and teacher
training programmes, implement initiatives so that young people in the Nordic
region become socially aware media consumers, because media skills are vital
for active citizenship.

• In Nordic
legislation, a ban on gender-discrimination in advertising is implemented, and
the advertising sector is demanded information on airbrushing of pictures,
since advertising pictures that are based on and reinforce gender-stereotypical
roles have a negative effect on, in particular, young people.

• The
Nordic governments draw up more effective prosecution of violation in social
media, and set up an independent complaints procedure for discrimination
against women and girls in media.

12. Feminism
in the future in the Nordic region and the organisation of the women’s movement

We demand
that:

• The
Nordic governments ensure that women’s organisations are included more in the
development of a transparent gender equality policy with a holistic view, as
dialogue partners, critical reviewers, and agents of change. We want to
participate more in long-term work for sustainable development, both at
national and global level.

• The
Nordic governments fund the women’s movement organisations and co-operate at
Nordic level, at least on the same level as other organisations in civil
society, so that feminism makes an impact and genuine gender equality is
attained in society.

• In
accordance with the Women’s Convention and Platform for Action Plan from
Beijing, the women’s organisations and networks in civil society are given
financial and societal opportunities to participate in political deliberations
at local, national and international level.

• The
Nordic governments finance a commission to the women’s organisations to make
the Women’s Convention and Platform for Action from Beijing known to the
general public and to show the consequences for tangible policies.